Why David Walliams will celebrate Roald Dahl day

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David Walliams: "I started reading Roald Dahl book when I was 8"Spiros Politis

Jill CravenDavid Walliams

Last updated at 12:01AM, September 4 2010

The children’s author and comedian explains why he still loves Charlie, Danny and the BFG - and the men who created them

I like to think that Quentin Blake and I share a similar fascination with the
smelly and grotesque. I wrote my first children’s book, The Boy in
the Dress, (Harper Collins, £6.99), in 2008 and he was, naturally, my No
1, dream ticket choice to illustrate it. But I never thought he’d do it ...
mainly because I was an untested, first-time author. But also because Little
Britain had been controversial and divisive and the subject matter of my
book (a cross-dressing child) was rather unconventional. I was worried that
it wasn’t the sort of theme that he would feel comfortable